Second Chances
by mightjustbe
Summary: Brennan gets a second chance from an unexpected place, and overhears Booth... R & R please


AN: This is something I started thinking about and couldn't get out of my head. Idea is from the latest 3 Grey's episodes, and I'm sure it's probably horrible... but I hope you enjoy laughing at it!

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Booth sat at her bedside, and she watched him, noticing how his shoulders shook every few seconds. He was crying. Why? "Booth, stop crying, you're scaring me..." She whispered, tears welling in her own eyes. "Come on, I mean it. This isn't... this isn't funny." She knew it wasn't. He couldn't hear her. She'd been trying for days to get him, to get all of them, to listen to her. But they couldnt' hear her. She sat up, and looked back at her stiff body, bruises highlighted by her pale white skin. "I don't look like that right now, Booth. Open your eyes, and look at me!" She screamed, trying to grab him. It didn't work. "I'm dead, aren't I, Booth?"

"Not yet." She turned at the voice, so eerily familiar she almost didnt' have to look to know who it belonged to.

"Mom?"

Christine smiled, a slight nod. "Yes, sweetheart. It's me."

Brennan's smile faded and she shook her head, "No. If I'm talking to you... I really am dead. You're dead."

"I am. But you're not. You still have the choice. You can go back."

"What if I don't want to? What if I want to stay with you?" She whispered, turning back to watch her partner, his shoulders still shaking as he sobbed.

That's when he started to speak. "Bones... You've got to wake up, do you hear me?" His voice was rough and it scared her, the look of overwhelming sadness and despair on his face. "You cannot leave me like this. You cannot do this. I need you... the squints need you!" He choked on a sob, and she felt a tear roll down her own cheek. "You can't die. The doctors... they said if you don't wake up in the next 24 hours, you never will. But they don't know you. They have already given up, Temperance, but we haven't. You're stronger than this. Besides, you have to yell at me for being an alpha male..."

"What does he mean?" She whispered, still watching him as a small smile passed over his lips before they once again gave way to trembling. "What happened?"

"You don't remember?" Her daughter shook her head, and she took a deep breath, "That's okay. I didn't either when it first happened with me. You were on a case, the two of you were going to question a suspect, someone who killed his wife and his two small kids. You kept trying to keep him calm, but you know how he is..." She smiled with her daughter. "Is it coming back yet?"

Brennan nodded, closing her eyes. _They went into the house, Booth leading as usual. He refused to give her a gun, saying (as usual) he was her gun. The man hit Booth over the head with something... She couldn't remember what. She remembered she called to him, but he was down. The man had sneered at her, told her he was going to have fun with her. She remembered her blood running cold and she wanted to leave, but she refused to leave him in there with this guy who was, quite obviously, insane. The man hit her, hard, and she kicked him in the ribs. He grabbed her ankle and pulled, and she fell to the ground with a hard thud. She reached for Booth's gun as he started to stir. "BOOTH!" She screamed, fear ripping through her as she kicked the attacker in the groin. He fell to his knees, releasing her, and she scrambled for her partner. She had forgotten about the suspect for a moment, and that had been all it took. There were two loud pops, and she fell to the floor, Booth pressing his hands into her side and shouting into his phone for an ambulance_. And it faded away. "Yes. I remember..." She turned to look at her mom, "But I was only shot once. Who..."

"He shot the man... he's dead. Booth hardly thinks it's justice, though..."

Brennan smiled, "He wouldn't. He's a God-man... He probably added another name to the list of those he has to make up for." She shook her head, "I don't understand this, though."

"You're being given a choice. It's a gift, really--the gift of a second chance. You can choose to die, to leave behind all you've ever known and all that you've worked for... or you can go back."

"But why me?" She watched Booth, his sobs receding as he held her hand and pressed it to his lips. "Don't you leave me yet. You cannot quit, do you hear me Bones? We never got our chance, and you can't die before I tell you..."

"Why me?" She interrupted, turning to her mother. She couldnt' hear him say the words she knew were coming. It would make the choice too hard.

Her mother simply shrugged. "There are many possible reasons. Maybe you haven't finished your work yet... Perhaps, you have things that are unsettled in your life. Or..." She nodded in the direction of the man sitting in front of her, "Or maybe someone has prayed for you so much, God has decided to give you one more shot."

"What would you do?" She whispered, watching Booth carefully. She saw the worry etched in his face, saw the way the skin under his eyes sagged and darkened, telling her he hadn't slept in days. "If you were me, what would you do?"

"I can't make this decision for you. This is up to you, my sweet, sweet girl. I have to go now... you need to choose alone." She smiled, a tear streaking down her cheek, "I love you." And like that, she was gone from Brennan's life, once more.

She focused her attention back to her devastated partner. "You pray for me?" She whispered, placing her hand against his cheek... "Why would you do that? What do you say, hmm?" She felt more tears coming, and she felt pressure on her chest.

"Tempe, you don't have much time..." She heard her mother's voice, but knew she wasn't standing there anymore. "You must decide now. What will you do?"

She couldn't find any words, so instead she just turned and realigned herself with her body, reclining back. "I'm going back," she whispered, "Thank you..."

Booth's shoulders shook, and she blinked. "Stop crying," the sound of her voice surprised her. "Booth..."

For a second, she feared it hadn't worked... until his head sprung up, and that signature smile came back, "Thank God!" He jumped up, his hands on either side of her, and he gently brushed his fingertips against her cheek.

"Why do you pray for me?"

He raised an eyebrow and gave an uneasy laugh, "Who says I do?"

She didn't smile, as he'd hoped, just replied, "My mom. She said God was giving me a second chance because you asked Him to. Because you prayed for me sometimes more than you prayed for yourself..."

"I pray for you because you won't pray for yourself. And because I love you..."

He hadn't meant for it to come out like that, and once it was out, he expected her to be shocked, or even mildly surprised. "I know. I heard you..."

"You were awake?"

"No. I was... I was being given my second chance."

"What are you talking about, Bones?" So she told him everything. She knew that, with his faith, he would never laugh at her. He wouldn't think she was crazy. "Are you telling me you believe now?"

"I think I have to." She smiled at him, and grabbed his hand, "I love you too, Booth."

He smiled, kissing her softly, "So you chose to come back because of me?"

"No. I came back because I have this really cool mummy from Egypt to examine that's coming in next month. I wouldn't miss that..."


End file.
